1. FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is related to antennas and, more particularly, is directed towards a compact low profile electrically small antenna designed primarily for operation in the lower VHF range.
2. DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART
Antennas in the form of multi-turn conductors arranged over ground planes and designed to operate in the UHF and VHF regions are well known. Conventional designs utilize, for example, air-filled coiled copper wire of various diameters wound in a multiple turn configuration whose resonant frequency depends upon the overall length and the number of turns in the coil. The chief advantages of multi-turn conducting radiators is that they may be made electrically small for use in the desired frequency ranges.
Prior art United States patents of which we are aware which describe typical multi-turn antenna radiators include: U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,573,840; 3,523,251; 3,503,075; 2,963,704; and 3,683,393.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,823,403 to Walter et al is illustrative of the combination of a multi-turn loop antenna radiating over a ground plane in which, however, the loop antenna consists of a coiled copper wire, a design which is bulky and requires a great deal of space for installation. In this class of structures also belongs that set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 3,965,474 to Guerrino et al in which a loop antenna of the copper wire variety is shown wound on a ferrite core. The structure described in the last-cited patent is also quite bulky and space consuming, making it inappropriate for many designs where space considerations are paramount.